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Domino effect hits Tamil industry

If there is one thing the Tamil Nadu industry is renowned for, it is discipline. Films begin on time, get completed on time, make it to the marquee on time.

Or used to.

The trouble is that the whole system is so finely engineered that the least little thing throws the entire machinery offtrack. As under:

Surya, who made his debut in Nerukku Ner, is now involved in two under-production films, Friends and Uyirile Kalanthu.

Friends had just one more schedule to go, there was just a little patchwork left on Uyirile Kalanthu, and after that he was due to start work on Nanda, director Bala's second project after the incredibly successful Vikram-starrer Sethu.

His role in Nanda requires him to undergo some physical change (remember how Bala made Vikram starve himself to emaciation-level and shave his head bald for the second half of Sethu?). Therefore, Surya needed to finish the two earlier projects before beginning work on Nanda.

But Uyirile Kalanthu has Jyotika leading the female cast (the second pairing for the Surya-Jyotika team, after Vasant's Poovellaam Kettu Paar). Jyotika, though, is busy with the Kamal Hassan-starrer Thenali, and Priyadarshan's all-woman movie Snegithiye. Thenali is slated for a Diwali release, and therefore rates priority.

So Jyotika has left Surya hanging.

Newcomer Sneha had signed Virumbigirain, but the producers didn't insist on a written contract because she was related to the fiance of dance master Kala. Sneha then went ahead and signed Sugam, co-starring Madhavan. Sugam's producers locked her into a contract specifying full-time commitment. So she is giving all her time to this second film.

Which in turn leaves her co-star in Virumbigirain, Prashanth, hanging.

For his part, Prashanth was busy with Apputhe remake of the Mahesh Bhatt-helmed Sadak, and needed to sport a stubble throughout the shoot. So he couldn't turn up for the shooting of Piriyatha Varam Vendum, the Tamil remake of the Malayalam romantic-suspense thriller Niram.

Niram had Shalini in the lead. She was paired with Prashanth in the Tamil remake as well. Since Prashanth didn't want to switch from the stubbled look in Appu to the more chocolate-boxy look of Piriyaatha Manam Vendum, he concentrated on the former film.

That left Shalini hanging.

Tired of waiting, Shalini got married to Ajith. Went on a honeymoon. Came back, and settled down to domestic bliss.

Now Prashanth is free to finish Piriyaatha Manam Vendum. But Ajith refuses to let his wife get back on the sets, pointing out that the couple had made clear, well in time, that Shalini would not work after her marriage. If the producer didn't finish his film despite warning, argues Ajith, that is his problem.

So Shalini leaves Prashanth hanging....

That's the trouble with finely-tuned machinery. All it takes is for one little cog to malfunction, and the whole thing breaks down.